My name is Leela Ehrhart, and I am a holistically-oriented consultant, coach, mentor, and educator. I hold a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in counseling with specializations in addiction and trauma treatment. My personal history with (S)SRI “antidepressant” drugs spans nearly two decades and I have been involved with the layperson withdrawal community since early 2017. I help run multiple online groups for people withdrawing from psychiatric drugs, and I also work one-on-one with patients, family members, and professionals navigating the myriad of challenges that arise surrounding psychiatric diagnoses, drugs, withdrawal, wellbeing, and coming back home to one’s-self again.

My own psychiatric drug and withdrawal journey, and everything that spiraled out of it, taught me that I have a lot more choices about how to care for myself and my well-being than I ever realized. Exploring ways to do this with discernment and largely outside of conventional systems has become a way of life for me, and continues to help me heal not just from the (S)SRIs and withdrawal but also from the deeper wounds of disempowerment and disconnection that previously permeated so many areas of my life. I am forever a student, always seeking to broaden my experience and understanding about how we human beings can truly nourish ourselves well–in mind, body and spirit.

I care deeply about informed consent and about challenging the status quo when it comes to how we conceptualize dis-ease, especially as it pertains to the “mental health” world. I trust in the wisdom of the body and I have come to view experiences of dis-ease not as malfunctions or pathologies, but as adaptive, intelligent, and necessary signals of things within and without which need our attention. I see “symptoms” as invitations to get curious; to lean in, grow, adapt, change, and ultimately to be steeped more fully in all the richness that our lives and our humanness have to offer. I believe in the power of the stories we choose to align ourselves with, and I believe there is almost nothing that a sense of empowerment and connection can’t help to improve. I am passionate about helping to encourage and support others in (re)connecting with their own curiosity, agency, inner knowing, and wholeness. My work is guided by the belief that each person is the ultimate expert of their own experience, and that every human being already has within them everything they need to heal.

If you find value the work that I do and the content that I create and offer freely on my blog and social media sites, please consider buying me a coffee. Your support will be much appreciated!